Google to improve offline translations with on-device AI

Just about a couple of years back, Google introduced neural machine translation (NMT) to Google Translate improving the accuracy of the online translations significantly. Now the same technology is been incorporated into the Google Translate app for offline translations. Google now improves offline translations with on-device AI.

It uses the machine learning technology (part of Artificial Intelligence) for high-quality offline translations. Rather than translating word by word, the neural system translates the whole sentences at a time.

According to Google, “The neural system translates whole sentences at a time, rather than piece by piece. It uses broader context to help determine the most relevant translation, which it then rearranges and adjusts to sound more like a real person speaking with proper grammar. This makes translated paragraphs and articles a lot smoother and easier to read.”

Since it’s for offline use, the translation works even without the Internet. The offline translations can be helpful when you travel outside your country with no active data plans. For offline translation to work, Google Translate needs to download the language packs that are sized around 35 MB to 45 MB for each.

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